Acadians Expulsion Of The

Governor Lawrence in 1755, with the advice

of his Council and of Admirals Boscawen and Mostyn, but apparently

without consulting the home government, decided that the Acadians must

be deported from Nova Scotia. The reason for this decision was the

obstinate refusal of the Acadians to take the oath of allegiance, and

the conviction of the governor that the safety of the colony depended

upon their expulsion. In September 1755, all preparations having been

made with the utmost secrecy, Monckton at Beausejour, Winslow at Grand

Pre, Murray at Piziquid, and Handfield at Annapolis, seized the

inhabitants and held them prisoners until the arrival of the transport

and provision ships. These having been delayed, the final embarkation

did not take place until late in December. The Acadians were distributed

among the British colonies along the Atlantic seaboard. Some hired

vessels in 1763, and sailed to Miquelon, and in 1767 and following years

returned gradually to their old Acadian home. Others came directly to

Nova Scotia in 1766, there being no longer any reason for their

exclusion, while others went north to Quebec or south to Louisiana. The

present Acadian population in the three Maritime Provinces is over

150,000, and these are the descendants of the few families who escaped

deportation, and of those who returned from exile. =Index=: See

references under Acadia. =Bib.=: Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe; Richard,

Acadia; Casgrain, Un Pelerinage au Pays d'Evangeline; Une Seconde

Acadie; Les Sulpiciens et les Pretres des Missions Etrangeres en

Acadia; Documents Inedits sur l'Acadie, 1710-1815; Archibald,

Expulsion of Acadians (N.S. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1887); Selections from

the Public Documents of Nova Scotia, ed. by Akins; Calnek and Savary,

History of the County of Annapolis.